The Odds
by tigers.on.moon
Summary: AU.Of friendship and f*cked up love stories. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Odds

Chapter One

**Genre:** Friendship, Romance

**Characters:** Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno

**Disclaimer:** Characters involved are not mine.

It doesn't matter why they were there. It doesn't matter how blue the sky was that spring morning or how the breeze gently caress the grass as it pass by. It doesn't matter who they were with or without at that humble café near the university or what clothes they were wearing.

It doesn't matter that her face was nude with make-up that fails to conceal the graveyard shifts, endless tests, and sleep-deprived nights filled with medical terms. Her hair constricted in a chaotic bun, a humongous textbook lay on the table as she mumbles incoherent words whilst painting it with a loud-colored highlighter.

It doesn't matter that he was still wearing the now crumpled dress shirt from the day before, leaking with the scent of booze and a few lipstick marks in the collar. His hair messier than it normally was, sipping his coffee silently in an attempt to ease the skull-breaking hangover he is experiencing at the moment.

It doesn't matter that they were a pair of tables and chairs apart from each other that fine morning.

None of it mattered, not until their eyes met.

* * *

They were basking in the comfortable silence the café provides. Sakura bit her lip in concentration as she arrived in a rather complex paragraph. Her right hand methodically highlighting complicated words as she carved its letters to her brain. She was so deep in her own medical world that the ruckus in the table a couple of chairs away from her baffled her. "Gomen." She heard the man spoke to the shop owner as he picks up the broken pieces of the coffee mug.

"Oh, it's quite alright dear. Don't move you might cut yourself." The kind owner of the shop said as she retracts the cleaning tools. But alas, the warning was a tad bit late as Sasuke grunts from the stinging pain of the newly accumulated wound.

It wasn't that deep of a wound and may have been classified as a scratch. But nonetheless, Sakura's medic instincts kicked in as she briskly walked to the scene with her first aid kit in toll. "Are you alright?" she said as she gently encompasses his injured hand with her highlighter-stained ones. He looked at her oddly, too stunned to break away and too hangover to be rude.

She brings out a band-aid bombarded with tiny red hearts all over and attends to the injury. "There you go." She said, quite satisfied with her work and gives the stranger a warm smile. "Thanks." He grunted still eyeing the strange band-aid plastered in his hand.

"It's quite handy to have a doctor near the premises." The owner teased the regular pink-haired customer which she retorted to with, "I'm not a doctor. Not yet." whilst blushing.

"Not yet?" he asked with a sudden curiosity and he silently wonders where this interest for the woman came from. "I'm a med student at KU. Are you a student too?" She explained as she stores her first-aid kit away. "Aa. Architecture." He responded as he helped the owner clean up the mess he made.

"Oh, you're from the opposite side of the campus. What bring you here?" she inquired in light interest. "I don't know." He said, sitting down as a wave of vertigo pass through his head.

She stared at him as he helplessly attempts to ease the pain, all the while sporting a knowing smile. "Here." She said, handing him medicine which he quizzically stared at. "It will help ease the hangover." She explained. "Aa. Thanks." He said, a bit embarrass that this stranger have him all figured out in less than a minute.

"Wild party?" she asked. "You have no idea." He grunted as he takes the medicine. She laughs and he wondered why that sound lessen the pain he was experiencing. "Well, the Art department is known for those, aren't they?" she commented which he grunted with unfortunate agreement. She stood up from the table and expressed her goodbyes but not a single step was made before Sasuke stopped her.

"Hang on, at least let me buy you a cup of coffee for…this." He awkwardly ended, pointing to the heart-filled band-aid. She can't help but laugh as she stationed herself to his table again and agreed with a warm smile.

He ordered another set of coffee and hands her the other. "Thank you." She said as she inhales that bittersweet comfort of the beverage.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I totally skipped introductions. I'm Sakura." She said extending her hand to the man on the other side of the table. "Sasuke." He said, taking her hand into his for a handshake.

* * *

It was weird.

It was weird that they sat in that little café for hours, ceaselessly talking about random and mundane things to deep and personal facts; from what did you have for breakfast to what are your dreams. It was weird that she didn't once comment on the obvious lipstick marks in his shirt or revolted to scent leaking from his clothes or chided him for his bad decisions in life. It was weird that he didn't comment on her messy hair or disgusted by her present lack of good grooming or judged her for being boring and a prude.

It was weird how comforting and natural the atmosphere was. It was weird that for every word they speak they became less than the stranger they were a few hours ago. It was weird because not once did he check his phone for a party invitation or a booty call. It was weird because her textbook lay in the table completely forgotten.

"I just transferred here last year." He explained, sipping to nth coffee delivered to them that day. "Really? Where are you from?" she asked. "Oto." He answered.

"I lived in Oto 10 years ago." She offered whilst stirring her coffee. He looked at her with sudden interest and urged her to elaborate further. She answered with a nostalgic smile, "Our house was just outside the main city. It wasn't that big but it was enough. It was a two-storey wooden house with a huge garden full of cherry blossoms. It was just across a temple. We had to move here in Konoha when I was nine."

"The house across the temple and two blocks away from the park?" he asked, eyes shining with disbelief and interest.

"Yeah." She answered still stuck in the memories of the past and unable to comprehend the situation.

"A three bedroom house with the dining hall directly connected to the garden? The one with the century old Sakura tree? And one of the rooms has a door jamb carved with cherry blossoms? The same room has a single big window that has the clear view of the garden and the temple across the street." he asked.

Sakura was taken aback with the factual details he presented of her former home. Indeed, she and her mom carved her room's door with cherry blossoms when she was a child.

"Uhm..This is getting really creepy but..yes. How did you know the look of my former house, much more my room?" she answered awkwardly.

"It's my room now. Well, for the summer at least." He answered coolly, satisfied with the look of disbelief he acquired from the maiden.

"No way! 2170 Kobaico St. Yorikimachi, Otokagure?" she huffed in surprise, her voice raising a pitch higher due to excitement.

Amusement dance in Sasuke's face as he confirmed the address. And elaborated, "We were originally from Konoha but moved to Oto for business when I was ten. Now that I think about it, that room was too..feminine when I first saw it."

"Feminine, huh?" she chuckled. "This is…creepy and amazing at the same time." She added in which he agreed with a nod and a smirk.

As they look at each other, a single thought crosses their minds in light amusement and wonder, "_What are the odds.."_

End of Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Odds

Chapter Two

Genre: Friendship

Characters: Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno

Disclaimer: Characters involved are not mine.

Inspired by the poem, "Boys will be boys" (I forgot the name of the writer, but kudos to you for a beautiful piece )

* * *

**Sakura's POV**

At age six, I met love.

I was in a public park with my mother a few feet away from me, talking with the chatty neighbor. My toes sink in the sand as I shovel my way down the earth's core - or the sandbox's. It happened in less than a second. Too fast to comprehend and process for a six year old child's brain.

Love pushed me. I felt my face sink in the sand, my teeth clacked, and my knees torn in halves. I ran to my mother, tears racing each other from both sides of my face and said, "That kid pushed me." She smiled that smile that makes me feel warm inside and assures me that everything is fine as she tell the six year old me. "He did that because he likes you."

_He did that because he likes you._

_He did that because he likes you._

_He did that because he likes you._

The phrase repeated again and again as it seared into my soul. Again and again and again until I believed it. Until I accepted it as true.

* * *

At age eight, love went to our house.

I was in my room, reading myself to sleep because my mom can't. She was with my dad downstairs in the kitchen; breaking porcelains, bending silverwares and singing curses. I tried hard to concentrate in the book wishing my eyelids to drop soon but they're too stubborn. When the book wasn't enough to buffer the thunders in our kitchen, I went under the covers and sing to myself just as what my mom does during a storm. I feel asleep hoping that the thunderclouds will leave our kitchen soon.

When the sun shined and my day started, I waked up to my mom making eggs and bacon. I smiled because the storm was over but I was stopped short as I saw the casualties the storm left behind.

That time, I wondered why she was wearing a long sleeved sweater in the middle of summer. I wondered where she was going to wear that much make-up. I wondered why when she smiled; it didn't make me warm inside.

_He did that because he likes you._

* * *

At age twelve, love rented a room in our house.

It didn't stop.

It didn't stop in the kitchen. It didn't stop at night. It didn't stop with my mom.

I don't remember when or why I experienced my first thunder but I became familiar with it. I became an expert when it was coming or where. I knew the moment it steps inside the house through its scent that leaks through the doors and wall cracks. I knew the sound that rumbles the foundations of our house.

You see, heredity is accidental. You'll eventually pick up something from living with a person for that long. I started growing in instead of up.

Be soft. Be quiet.

I started buying long-sleeves shirts for summer and band-aids for winter. I started watching videos about make-up. Eventually, I became my mom.

The first person to see my bruises outside home is a boy named Naruto. He was my seatmate in class, considered the dead last, the class clown. It was just a slip, sneak peek of a stubborn wound who fails at

hide and seek.

When he saw it, his blue eyes widen in shock and I bowed my head in embarrassment and guilt. My hand shaking as I pulled down my sleeves and tears pooled in my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, he offered me something. I was surprise to see him handing me pack of instant ramen with a cheeky grin and understanding eyes. I made my first friend.

I learned that Naruto met love too. It was in the orphanage where brawls were common, punishment is a meal and love was scarce. He told me how he played hide and seek with his bruises too and how scars keeps permanent residents on his cheeks. It was a nightmare but he woke up.

He tells me with much vigor how his friend, "teme" acted as his alarm clock. It is only later that I realized how colorful Naruto's vocabulary was.

He offered to be my alarm clock. I was uncertain and doubtful but not until I found my mom, my beautiful mother sleeps in the kitchen. She bathes in puddles left by the storm that strikes like blood. Her face crystallized with unshed tears. Her wrists filled with drawings of different shades of red.

I begged Naruto to wake me up.

_He did that because he likes you._

* * *

At age sixteen, I slept with love.

Naruto is my only family. The only one keeping myself from self-destructing, shredding me from limb to limb until nothing is left but my frail bones.

I felt my ground shake and rumble as he told me of his impending leave. "Ero-sennin is taking me for a road trip." He said with an excited grin on our graduation day. I've always considered myself strong ever since I put my father in jail. Yet now, that I am on the verge of losing Naruto I've realized how I was too dependent of my idiotic best friend.

I smiled at him and wish him luck and threaten to drag his ass back to Konoha if he doesn't limit eating ramen. I smiled because he is starting to live his life away from our painful pasts. I smiled because I realized I should start living too.

For a few months, I juggled being a waitress in a café near the university at day and volunteering in the local clinic at night. The next year, I enrolled for a scholarship at KU as a medical student. I figured if can heal other people's wounds maybe I can heal mine. If I can cure as many people as possible, maybe my mom would cease dying every time my head hit the pillow. I figured if I can save other people, maybe I can be saved.

The day I started my classes, I met a boy named Gaara. He was perfect.

We dated, kissed, made love. It was the kind of love that came out in a Disney movie. And for the first time ever since Naruto left, I felt safe. I looked at him with eyes that see only the best of him, with eyes that see no wrong. After a year, I've fallen so deep that I've lost track of the location of the exit.

By the start of our third year together, I have forgotten how to track thunderclouds. It happened in less than a second. Too fast to comprehend and process for an in love teenager's brain. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor with a swollen cheek and a bruised arm. I looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. He feel on his knees, uttering the word "Sorry" a million times, begging me for forgiveness, begging me for another chance with tears in his eyes.

Heredity is accidental but stupidity is a skill. I forgive him, kissed the hand that strike me and dried his tears only to replace it with mine. It was like an aftershock following the earthquake. Bigger, stronger and deadlier. I was scared because I was alone. There was no mom to sing me to sleep, there was no Naruto that could wake me up.

I only have Gaara.

_He doesn't mean it._

_It was because of the alcohol. _

_He can't help it. _

_He isn't dad._

_He did that because he likes you._

* * *

At age twenty, I learned.

I met Sasuke three months ago in the café. And within these times, he became a friend. I know I should be afraid to be close this much with a stranger. But I laugh it off because I know deep inside that I am living with one, a stranger who strikes me when he have too many to drink.

The other day I had coffee again with Sasuke. He greeted me with a smirk because he doesn't know how to smile. He doesn't question why I was wearing a sweater that sunny day and I was thankful. As we get up the chair and into our separate ways that day, he stopped me with a gentle grip in my arm that I almost cried because I thought I've forgotten how gentle felt like. He looked at me with gentle, knowing eyes and handed me a band-aid.

"Are you alright?" he asked lightly. I was taken a back with his gentleness and brush it off with a "Don't tell me you're still drunk, Sasuke?"

He peeled of the band-aid and placed it on my cheek. My eyes started to water when I realized I must have forgotten to cover that particular wound in my haste to go out of Gaara's place. Sasuke hugged me and I know he isn't the hugging type with the stiffness of his arms and the tense in his shoulders.

He whispered in my ear in the quest to console me but I felt my world rumble with his words.

"It's not your fault, Sakura."

I let myself cry silently on his shoulder.

For the next few months, Sasuke tried to indirectly talk me into leaving Gaara or "dickhead" in his vocabulary. Of course, I didn't learn that easily and like the stubborn me, I had to learn the hard way.

I was talking with Sasuke about a new tv series I'm addicted to because I have no girl friends to fangirl with. He doesn't hang up on me because he's my bitch and he keeps up the charade that he's talking with his girlfriend to chase away fangirls.

I was happily telling the latest episode when Gaara came home leaking with the scent of booze and sweat. I hastily said goodbye to Sasuke and throw the phone on the coffee table. Gaara asked me who I was talking too and I told him it was nothing important. Betrayal, judgment and anger filled his eyes. I panicked because I can clearly see the thunderstorm coming. I explained and begged quickly, too quickly that it added fuel to the fire. It happened again. He hit me with a steeled fist, a swift kick and banged my head in the concrete wall. I've got black and blue as seconds felt like years, as my vision became blurry, as my blood and tears flood the apartment.

He stopped and I thought it was over, at least for now. But it wasn't.

It turns out Gaara's not only drunk, he tried drugs too. It is to my dismay that when he is drunk, he is a monster but when he is a drunk and stoned, he is a horny monster.

He pinned me down our hardwood floors while relentlessly kissing my mouth. My shirt is a feet away from me on the floor and followed by my sweatpants. He holds my wrist tightly it started to bruise badly. For the life of me, I started crying and begging him stop. Then I heard a crash and suddenly, I was free.

I saw Sasuke beating the life out of Gaara beside our broken down door. It turns out my stupidity can save me at times. I forgot to hang up the phone and Sasuke heard everything. I cried as I realized that sometimes knights in shining armors don't come with a white horse or an armor. Sometimes, they are clad with an old rock band shirt and boxer briefs with bare feet scrapped when they run like hell in a concrete road in order to save your ass.

After the whole ordeal, Sasuke let me crash in his place and the whole night we alternated from watching sappy chick flicks to playing video games. I asked him why are we doing both and I smiled as he answered, "Well, I know you're feeling like crying and killing something right now. I'm just letting you do both."

By dawn, we watched twenty proposals and killed a hundred soldiers. As we watch the sun rise from his small apartment with popcorn and soda cans surrounding us, he encompasses my hands with his and said, "The only reason a man should ever reach out his hand to you is to hold yours."

That day I learned.

_He did that not because he likes you._

That day I woke up…for good this time.

_I did that because to love myself._


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Odds

Chapter Three

Genre: Friendship

Characters: Sasuke Uchiha & Sakura Haruno

Disclaimer: Characters involved are not mine.

**Sasuke's POV**

Sakura,

You may not remember this but ten years ago you told me, "When are you gonna start living?"

You were so fucking angry and frustrated with me that I can see your balled fists shaking. Your teeth was grinding, your jaw locked, shoulders tense, hair in chaos, and your cheeks damp with tears as you shouted profanities in my face. Honestly, I didn't catch a single word that was coming out of your mouth. Nothing. Except a single fucking sentence, "When are you gonna start living?"

I can blame the alcohol or god forbid, depression but that hit home.

You see, you may not remember this but ten years ago I didn't answer your question. And I know it was rhetorical but with you I'm never sure. I believe I can finally give you an answer. I think I do.

* * *

I was never good with birthdays or numbers so I can't exactly tell you the exact time and date when I told you I was an orphan. But I remember this; we were playing counterstrike in my apartment floor as I watch you in fascination as you balance stuffing your mouth with chips and beating my ass. You started asking me random questions and shit and I pretend to listen and answer with a grunt. You asked me about my family and I froze. You looked at me with questioning eyes for a second and then smiled and dropped the subject. I don't know why but I felt guilty and I honestly believed this was one of your feminine mind games. I was so set on drawing the line with my family matters but at the end of the night you had me talking.

I told you all about the car accident a few months after we move in Oto and how I lost _everything_. I told you about having to stay in an orphanage for a few months before an old man named Kakashi took me in. And I laughed when your eyes went wide when you thought he was a perverted pedophile gay man. I told you about a dobe who tricked me into going into KU while he went on an extended road trip into god knows where.

We didn't make out or have wild sex. The most physical interaction between us is when I passed you the con of soda. But by the end of the night, I felt fucking satisfied. I should have realized this sooner Sak. That day was the first time I felt have a pulse.

* * *

And like any cliché in a human's life, mine started with a pregnancy news.

Karin, my girlfriend called me in the middle of the night while I was working my ass off for a presentation the following day. The moment I heard her say, "I'm pregnant." my whole body froze and I instinctively hung up out of pure fear. After a minute of emptiness and shock, I dialed your number. I don't know why I did what I did and I try to reason with myself that you're the only one awake at this ungodly hour as you try to bury your face in those huge books with unreasonably small letters. The moment I heard the first ring I felt guilty for disturbing you with my mess and was already ready to hang up but I heard you say a tired "Hello?"

I was so fucking relieved and I'm not even sure why. It's not like you can clean up this mess I made but hearing your voice calmed me down. "She's pregnant." Was all I can say and it surprised me how you immediately able to talk back to me. "Hold on. I'll be there in five." You said then hung up.

I can't remember much about that night or how I told you everything I know but I clearly remember that you have a killer right hook that hurts like hell. You demanded me to call Karin back and take responsibility. I guess that right hook shook some sense on me so I did just that.

* * *

One year until my graduation in Architecture, I dropped out. I have to take responsibility for Karin and my growing baby inside her. I found a job as a draftsman in a nearby firm and even bought a larger apartment. I don't know why but somehow we lost contact. I don't know if it was because I was too occupied with Karin or my job or because you were too busy with med school.

I was struggling to keep up with Karin's mood and the bills, both of them unpredictable. There were days when I feel like giving this shit up but I always hold on to the pain of your right hook that night. You're right, I should grow some balls and take responsibility.

The day I saw my baby's sonogram I froze. Everything around me styed still and the only life I can see is that little beating heart in that monitor. I excused myself to the bathroom after the doctor's visit. This is embarrassing but… I fucking cried. And as if by instinct, I dialed your number. It ringed once then twice and thrice but no one picked up the phone. This was the moment that I realized; I may have lost you Sak. I was scared as hell.

I didn't know what to do, who to call, where to go. You disappeared and honestly, I am ashamed to look for you because I didn't know what to say…I didn't know what you'll say. So I didn't.

It was the eight month of Karin's pregnancy when I found out about the pills. I found them by accident. I saw red. For months, she was trying to kill the baby. To kill _my_ baby. She told me she was sorry but she was not ready for this child, that she has dreams and a bright future that apparently, doesn't involve me or my child. I was furious. I don't know how but we end up in the hospital. But we were too late. There was no more baby to save.

* * *

I was drawn to drinking after that. I don't know how many months or hell, years have passed but one night I heard someone opening the door. I stayed still in the sofa, too drunk to care. I felt a warm hand in my cheek. I saw you.

Your lips were moving but I can't understand a word you're saying. I just look blankly at you. For the first hour, you talked and I didn't listen. I can clearly see your discomfort and your awkwardness. Maybe because of the time gap in our friendship or my lack of response but you continued talking. By the next hour, you start begging. Begging me to talk, to move, to make a damn noise so you can prove that I am still human. But I didn't because I can't. Because I'm not sure I still am.

On the third hour, you started crying and screaming bloody murder. "When are you gonna start living?" you shouted.

On the fourth hour, you've calmed down and sit beside me in my dusty sofa with popcorns and soda cans around us, a rerun of the Christmas special playing on the TV. You laid your head on my shoulder as we watch the sun rise from the dirty window. "You know, years ago were in this same situation. I haven't told you yet but that day, you saved my life." You started to say. You looked at me with those wide emerald eyes and held my hand as you tell me, "Please. Let me save you this time."

In that moment, I realized how fucked up our relationship is. How rare this is. How grateful I am to have this. I hugged you tight and whispered, "Thank you." My voice was so hoarse and my throat dry, it might as well have been my first words. And in an extent, it was.

* * *

Baby steps. That's what you always tell me.

"Just take baby steps, Sasuke. One at a time."

And I did. I started working again in a new firm. I enrolled again in KU to finish my degree. I moved into a new apartment. I even bought a new car. And all that time, you were there to support me. I am really grateful for that.

* * *

I know you can clearly re-tell the story until the tiniest detail the moment we started this relationship. Well, I can't. Because I was nervous as hell and for a moment I 'm sure I passed out. I was on my way to the coffee shop near the KU where you want to have lunch that day. I called off my meeting to the office to drive down the other side of the city to see you. I saw you by the window reading a book and it was like I was hit with de javu and nostalgia. I started to remember the broken cup, the heart-filled band-aid, the coffee, the popcorn, the old house, the sunrise. I started to remember _you_.

I went inside the shop with this feeling of excitement, of anxiousness, hell, of revelation that I didn't catch the story you were telling. When our order arrived, I was so sure I want to ask you out. I started to plan how I will do it, where will I bring you. I was slowly painting the picture.

Then, you reached out to me and put that embarrassingly pink heart-filled band-aid in my hand. "You've got a cut." You said and smiled sweetly. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and words threaten to escape my mouth unfiltered. I was so fucking scared I was gonna ask you here to go out with me.

Turns out. I have done worse.

"Will you marry me?" I asked.

You were shocked and I am more surprised but the moment it leaved my mouth, it made perfect sense.

We stayed still almost an hour staring at each other then, the next hour eating our meal. I was beginning to dread the things I said not because of what I said but how and when I said it. We silently go out to the parking lot. As soon as we are outside, without missing a beat you asked me, "So how many guests do you want?"

I looked at you in disbelief that turned into pure joy as I hug you so tight I'm pretty sure your ribs cracked. You were crying and laughing at the same time. And so was I.

It wasn't the perfect time and place to propose. But who the fuck cares, nothing in my relationship with you is perfect. All of it just felt _right_.

You may not remember this but ten years ago you told me, "When are you gonna start living?"

You were so fucking angry and frustrated with me that I can see your balled fists shaking. Your teeth was grinding, your jaw locked, shoulders tense, hair in chaos, and your cheeks damp with tears as you shouted profanities in my face. Honestly, I didn't catch a single word that was coming out of your mouth. Nothing. Except a single fucking sentence, "When are you gonna start living?"

I can blame the alcohol or god forbid, depression but that hit home.

You see, you may not remember this but ten years ago I didn't answer your question. And I know it was rhetorical but with you I'm never sure. I believe I can finally give you an answer. I think I do.

I started living when I met you.

You are the reason why I am alive, why I am still alive, why I am trying to be alive.

Everything that I am today started with you and I'll always be grateful for that.

You're my ground zero, Sak.

So I don't give a shit about the fears having to start a new life with you as my wife. Because honestly, with you is the only life I know.

Sasuke

* * *

"You're supposed to write wedding vows Sasuke." Sakura said while giggling in the sofa with Sasuke beside him. "They are wedding vows." He answered. "It's a fucking love story dumbass." She said cattily while smirking. "And it's too sappy. I can't have so much sappiness in my own wedding." She added.

He smirked and kissed her nose and said, "Then, I vow our whole 'fucking love story' to you. And it's supposed to be sappy."

"You're disgustingly a softie." She said as she kissed full on the mouth.

Suddenly, "Hey Teme, Sakura-chan! Can we have ramen in the wedding? Everybody will like i-AAAAHHHHH! What the fucking hell?!"

"Get the fuck out NARUTO!"

End of Chapter

_Note: Heya! Review if you want an Epilogue about the wedding/family life or a Sakura POV chapter. Go on. Hit that review button. Free hugs for everyone! ._


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